In the apparently sterile environment of a classroom or the cozy confines of your home airport, it can be difficult to develop the sensory feedback mechanisms that create aviators, not button pushers. Procedures, aircraft and even our understanding of flight dynamics change over time, but for the best descriptions of what it feels like you're wise to look to the classics of aviation literature.

We'll assume you have a copy of Wolfgang Langewieche's Stick and Rudder on the shelf (or in your flight bag) and suggest that you add a copy of Leighton Collins' Takeoffs & Landings to your 'real pilot' library. In addition to fathering Richard L. Collins, one of the most prominent aviation writers of our time, Leighton founded Air Facts magazine in 1938 and produced it for nearly 35 years, in the meantime serving as a pioneering force in the improvement of aviation safety standards.

In his only book, now in print for the first time in generations, Collins puts forth 280 pages focusing on the most critical moments in flight in concise and clear prose, getting to the point with a voice of authority that can only come from a lifetime of experience.

About the Author
Leighton Collins first soloed in 1929 in an open-cockpit biplane. He founded Air Facts magazine, which he edited and produced almost single-handedly for 35 years, a magazine widely recognized as the pioneering force for improvement of the aviation safety record. While he contributed a chapter to Stick and Rudder, Langewiesche's classic flight manual, Takeoffs and Landings was the first book in Mr. Collins' long writing career.

Soft Cover
300 pages, Indexed

Publisher
Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. (2005)